English Literature: February 2021

Tuesday 16 February 2021

Critically Comment on Swift’s Satirical Technique in the First Two Books of "Gulliver’s Travels".

Satirical Technique in the First Two Books of "Gulliver’s Travels":

Jonathan Swift is one of the greatest satirists of English literature. He had a sort of political background in his early career. He worked as the Chief Publicity Agent and Adviser to the Tory Ministry of Harley and St. John from 1710 to 1713. He, therefore, saw at close quarters the working of the courtiers and the politicians and he was filled with disgust. This disgust is reflected in his famous prose "Gulliver’s Travels".

 

Thursday 4 February 2021

How does Wordsworth Deal with the Theme of Loss and Gain in 'Immortality Ode'

Theme of Loss and Gain in 'Immortality Ode':

The poem Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood commences with a note of regret that the heavenly or celestial spark that the poet found in his childhood days in all the phenomena of nature has disappeared in his mature age. He finds no divine spark or beauty to whatever beautiful objects he now turns such as the rainbow, the rose, the moonlight, the sun light etc. The poet is grief stricken because of the sense of loss of divine glory. The sight of a tree or a field or a flower pathetically reminds him of his loss of celestial glory.

 

Wednesday 3 February 2021

Discuss 'Michael' as a Pastoral Poem

 'Michael' as a Pastoral Poem:

 William Wordsworth Michael is an elongated poem in blank verse. The Michael of the heading is the poem’s protagonist. The subtitle, A Pastoral Poem,” appears to challenge the traditional idea of pastoral poetry as a form for the peaceful and the pastoral, and to make prepare the reader to accept the “low and rustic life” as the perfect pastoral.

 

The poem deals with man's battle in this unfriendly world to keep up his reputation and values, through the life of Michael, a forlorn previous. As Bernard Groom comments about the verse, “Wordsworth’s picture of rural life in Michael is less idyllic and nearer to historical truth than some readers may suppose." Michael is a straightforward peaceful poem however doesn't follow its specific

'Michael' as a Pastoral Poem

meaning. The poem tells the pitiable life story of a helpless shepherd. The setting of the poem is peaceful as it occurs around the spot in "Greenhead Ghyll." But, it does not have the aesthetic magnificence and disposition of the commonplace peaceful poems.

Monday 1 February 2021

How does Wordsworth Show the Dignity of Labour in 'Michael'

Michael is a famous poem in which Wordsworth has portrayed the inevitable relationship between work and existence. Existence requires work because survival is for the fittest.

 

Wordsworth Show the Dignity of Labour in 'Michael':

 

Michael is a pastoral poem, defines about the man the spirit of man and human life. Michael is an aged man but he has won the limitations of age. He works hard in the field from dawn to late at night. His only son Luke is instructed how to look after the sheep. His wife Isabela also works all the time. Michael’s wife Isabela as

Wordsworth Show the Dignity of Labour in 'Michael'

the perfect maintenance impressively for her family and works hard to care them. She has two spinning wheels.
Even returning from the field in the evening Michael lits a lamp and all the members of the house work very sincerely. Even sitting by the fire at night they work as far as possible. They have proverbial reputation all over the locality for their tireless industry. Actually for the inhabitants of the world work is of central importance: